BY BANYO TEMITAYO
THE Central Bank of Nigeria has disbursed N1.487trillion under its various agricultural programmes, aimed at improving food supply in the country.
Out of this figure, N686.59 billion was disbursed under the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS) and ₦601.75 billion under the Anchor Borrowers Programmes (ABP) to 3,038,649 farmers to support food supply and dampen inflationary pressures.
This was disclosed by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in the Communique 135 of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
He said, “The Committee noted that the Bank has disbursed funds under its various agricultural interventions towards improving food supply in Nigeira. The Committee noted the disbursement of ₦107.60 billion to 548,109 farmers cultivating 703,619 hectares of land between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 to boost dry season output in support of agricultural value chain development.
“Total disbursements as at end-February 2021 amounted to ₦1.487 trillion under the various agricultural programmes, of which N686.59 billion was disbursed under the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS) and ₦601.75 billion under the Anchor Borrowers Programmes (ABP) to 3,038,649 farmers to support food supply and dampen inflationary pressures.
“Under the Targeted Credit Facility, the Bank has disbursed N218.16 billion to 475,376 beneficiaries, of which 34 per cent of beneficiaries are SMEs. Under AGSMEIS, N111.62 billion has been disbursed to 28,961 beneficiaries, 70 per cent of which are in the agricultural sector. Under the Creative Industry Financing Initiatives mainly targeted at youths, N3.19 billion has been disbursed to 341 beneficiaries, of which 53 per cent is to the movie industry.”
The MPC also said the market capitalisation of listed equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange fell by 1.11 per cent to N20.82trillion on February 26, 2021, from N21.06 trillion on December 31, 2020.
The N240billion decline was attributed largely to investor sell-off, which continued to cause price depreciation of large and medium capitalised stocks.
The CBN Governor said, “The Committee noted the weak performance in the equities market despite the recent increased patronage by domestic investors.
“The All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation (MC) continued to decline due to portfolio switching from equities to fixed income securities, reflecting the perception of improved yields at the long end of the yield curve.”
He stated, “All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 1.17 per cent to 39,799.89 points on February 26, 2021 from 40,270.72 on December 31, 2020. Similarly, Market Capitalization (MC) fell by 1.11 per cent to N20.82 trillion on February 26, 2021 from N21.06 trillion on December 31, 2020.
“This was attributed largely to investor sell-off, which continued to cause price depreciation of large and medium capitalized stocks.”
